Nicki Minaj has insisted that she does not allow her critics to get the best of her.

Talking to MTV News, the rapper explained that she believes those who do not support her are simply jealous of her success and are unhappy with their own creative progress.

"I hate to say it, but a lot of people harbour a lot of hate [and] envy. It almost feels like, because I'm where I am, they're where they are. I didn't do this to you; I didn't do this to your career. I'm responsible for Nicki; you're responsible for you," she said.

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"When you see someone else being successful and your first instinct is to tear them apart, that's just a sign of you feeling unhappy with your achievements. But what I try to explain to people is: Whenever you feel like that - and we all feel like that sometimes, like, 'Ah, somebody's doing it. Somebody's popping a lot' - use that as fuel to go hard. That's what I did."

Minaj went on to say that she found particular inspiration for her own career in watching Young Money label head Lil Wayne pursue his passion.

"See, I looked at people like Wayne. I would go to the studio and I would observe Wayne, and I would literally pray. I would say, 'God, give me his work ethic,'" she said.

"You have to ask for what you want. You have to identify what it is you need to get where you need to go and then speak that. You have to say it."